The acute medical unit model: A characterisation based upon the National Health Service in Scotland.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Acute medical units (AMUs) receive the majority of acute medical patients presenting to hospital as an emergency in the United Kingdom (UK) and in other international settings. They have emerged as a result of local service innovation in the context of a limited evidence base. As such, the AMU model is not well characterised in terms of its boundaries, patient populations and components of care. This makes service optimisation and development through strategic resource planning, quality improvement and research challenging.

Aim

This study aims to evaluate a national set of AMUs with the intent of characterising the AMU model.

Methods

Twenty-nine AMUs in Scotland were identified. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews with multidisciplinary health

SUBMITTER: Reid LEM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6169877 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature